Movie record 2020 edition - The Bear and Badger

jdanielp

46. The Daughters of Fire

Strangely boring despite being actually pornographic lesbian feminist road trip through southern Argentina.

[5]

47. Primer

Lo-fi time travel thriller which maintains just the right level of plausibility.

[8]

ShabbyMcCrabby

Webbins wrote:

84. Killer Joe A finger lickin' turn by McConaughey as a cop-cum-contract killer in this decent but not deep, darkly comic crime caper. 7 85. Southern Comfort National Guardsmen are treated to some traditional southern hospitality whilst on manoeuvres in Cajun country. Great location and Ry Cooder soundtrack. 7

I really liked Killer Joe. Proper grimy stuff. Not sure why I thought watching it with my mum was a good idea.

Have you seen Mud? Another McConaughey that doesn't get the coverage it deserves I think even though it's Jeff Nichols. Defo recommend.

jdanielp

Mud is great!

poprock

21 Bridges
Heist goes wrong, can’t trust anyone, can’t trust the cops … and it’s all a bit ‘adequate’.

The Daddy

Adequate is all we can ask for in these troubling times.

poprock

Damning with faint praise is where it’s at.

Webbins

86. Quarantine
Semi successful found footage horror REC rip-off/remake. A ~~corona~~ rabies like virus runs amok in a sealed apartment block. 6

87. Coffee and Cigarettes
Jim Jarmusch directed set of talky vignettes with famous faces, all centred around the titular items. Some conversations work, some don't. 6

Webbins

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

I really liked Killer Joe. Proper grimy stuff. Not sure why I thought watching it with my mum was a good idea.

Have you seen Mud? Another McConaughey that doesn't get the coverage it deserves I think even though it's Jeff Nichols. Defo recommend.

I liked KJ, I think I would have given it an 8 when I first saw it back the day. Mud I've skipped past many a time, so I'll have to give it a watch when it next pops up.

Gremill

Webbins wrote:

86. Quarantine
Semi successful found footage horror REC rip-off/remake. A ~~corona~~ rabies like virus runs amok in a sealed apartment block. 6

87. Coffee and Cigarettes
Jim Jarmusch directed set of talky vignettes with famous faces, all centred around the titular items. Some conversations work, some don't. 6

Quarantine was a needless remake of REC, which I loved.

Webbins

Agreed. Been a while since I'd seen REC so I'd thought I'd give this a whirl for comparison. It has some qualities but the found footage genre has kind of had its day and the shaky cam becomes tiring after a while.

Gremill

The REC sequels are unbelievable trash though - I watched the third one, set at a wedding, and it was hot garbage.

jdanielp

48. Sisters

Unintentionally (?) hilarious psychological thriller about a journalist who believes she witnessed a murder.

[6]

49. Eva/Eve

An arrogant Welsh writer becomes infatuated with a manipulative French woman - melodrama ensues.

[5]

Blocks100

Had a bit of a sci-fi binge recently, all re-watches (apart from the last one)

The Chronicles of Riddick Could've just watched an entire film about him and his space dog, then the 'Mercs' show up and it all dies in a blaze of bad acting.

[4]

Annihilation

Love the feeling of 'The Zone' beyond the shimmer. Even the talking bear can't ruin it. Aliens feel, look and behave like aliens at last. Boss.

[8]

Life

Jake Gyllenhaal gets jiggy with an alien and regrets it. Tense and claustrophobic. Could've swore it ended differently first time around.

[6.5]

A Quiet Place

Was quite drunk in the cinema when I first saw this upon original release.
Could've swore it ended differently first time around. Makes we want to watch the prequel (?)

[7]

Terminator: Dark Fate

Because with Linda Hamilton and Cameron back at the helm this has to be a worthy reboot right? Wrong. Fuck off and get those groceries then Arnie - and don't ever come back.

[1]

Dubs

Ponyo (rewatch) - Always watched the English dub because Ponyo's so adorable and you're not getting a better Galadriel than Blanchett. Love her reveal, it's second only to the storm which has to be one of the most thrilling sequences they've produced. [8]

Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance (rewatch) - I'd forgotten how horribly funny this was. Doona Bae is wooden in the Wachowski stuff (tbf their dialogue doesn't help) but she'll always have my respect for this. [7]

Le Doulos - Serge Reggiani double crosses and is double crossed (or is he?!) while wearing a trench coat and fedora. A delicious slice of noir which kept me guessing. Got a bit distracted when I realised Reggiani looked like Mr Bean. [7]

Lady Vengeance (rewatch) - Didn't watch Oldboy again this time but I think Lady is my favourite of the trilogy. Mr was more farcical than I remembered but this manages to be even more fun without undermining my sympathy. [8]

hylian_elf

I really liked Mr but didn’t get on with Lady as much in my first viewings. I haven’t rewatched any and recently thought of doing so. Just to see if still feel the same.

Webbins

88. Horrible Bosses
Reasonable boss revenge comedy that has few laughs. Likeable leads, always a bit questionable when Spacey turns up now though, Farrell is good but underused and Aniston brings some va va voom. 6

ShabbyMcCrabby

69. The Raid
Does anyone make fun martial arts/stunt movies? Jackie Chan was always my guy and I just can't deal with all the horrible knife violence in most modern fight films.
[5]

70. Paprika
Nolan wishes he had the flair for visuals or imagination that this has. The story does quite flow as well as I'd hoped though. The visuals make up for it mostly though.
[6]

djchump

ShabbyMcCrabby wrote:

69. The Raid Does anyone make fun martial arts/stunt movies? Jackie Chan was always my guy and I just can't deal with all the horrible knife violence in most modern fight films. [5] ...

It's all a bit po-faced these days. There hasn't really been any of the stunt/gymnastic silliness since Jaa burst onto the scene. Some of Adkins' films are kinda knockabout fun, but still played straight and often brutal/harsh.
I've heard good things about the Into the Badlands TV show, but not seen any of it so can't personally vouch.

There's no-one like Jackie and the 3 Dragons. Just hit up his old 80s flicks with Sammo and Yuen. Stephen Chow needs to make more films.

As for fun stunts - youtube is where it's at for people mucking about. This guy's my favourite: https://www.youtube.com/user/damienwalters
The old Walters & Shieff episodes were good fun for people mucking about doing dangerous stuff down the gym in Derby: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy25Fo4sezXNt3H3YL5agQ_6dpdza5g7_
But even his output has fallen off as he gets more "professional" gigs.

ShabbyMcCrabby

Yeah I got into the Jaa stuff when it came out. It's a shame that no one else has carried the Jackie torch into the modern day. I guess there's too much risk and it's harder to get around insurance for the stunts. Some of the Mission Impossible stuff scratches the stunt itch but it's still too big a film. Gimme another District 13 or even a Rush Hour!

poprock

Stephen Chow, maybe? Kung-fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer … But he hasn’t done much since.

ShabbyMcCrabby

71. Extraction
Solid action film with some nice sequences including the one main one being quite well done. Like with Raid and the John Wick films I have a bit of issue with the more realistic violence in these films that are meant to be more popcorn fair. I find it hard to get excited when people are people killed pretty realistically. I think that kind of 'death fidelity' should be saved for the Saving Private Ryan's and such.
[6]

ShabbyMcCrabby

poprock wrote:

Stephen Chow, maybe? Kung-fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer … But he hasn’t done much since.

Yeah those were great fun. Something like that but with today's effects would be cool to see.

djchump

I guess the problem is the low budget VOD scene has always been very macho-driven and favoured action films that take themselves seriously, even back in the Bloodsport days. Jackie is that rare breed who doesn't seem to be massively ego-driven and wants to make family-friendly films. It does mean however that since the 90s he's made tonnes of dross, but he ain't young anymore and he's a personal legend of mine, so while I don't watch them I'm glad he's still making them.

Tempy

I thought Headshot has some Jackie Chan style stuff in it, Uwais trying his hand at the “clever use of environmental object into bewildered luck as he nearly gets leathered by his angry opponent mere seconds later” schtick, except it was 100x more violent and nasty than a Chan/Fat flick. I feel like quarantine Shabby is a severe critic though as The Raid and Paprika are both near perfect for me.

Minnesänger

poprock wrote:

Stephen Chow, maybe? Kung-fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer … But he hasn’t done much since.

I really liked his Journey to the West movie, which is comparatively more recent. His mermaid thing though...really flawed.

djchump

Tempy wrote:

I thought Headshot has some Jackie Chan style stuff in it, Uwais trying his hand at the “clever use of environmental object into bewildered luck as he nearly gets leathered by his angry opponent mere seconds later” schtick, except it was 100x more violent and nasty than a Chan/Fat flick. I feel like quarantine Shabby is a severe critic though as The Raid and Paprika are both near perfect for me.

Likewise, the fights in The Night Comes For Us are very inventive - but the part Shabby doesn't want is the gore and harshness.

Early Jet Lee/Li stuff is good knockabout fun - Shaolin Temple and Once Upon a Time in China series. Fist of Legend is still one of my all time favourite kung fu films.

nick_md

Like his films, JC, but he's pretty problematic isn't he? That old argument I guess, art vs artist. I'll continue to enjoy his old films.

Tempy

djchump wrote:

Tempy wrote:

I thought Headshot has some Jackie Chan style stuff in it, Uwais trying his hand at the “clever use of environmental object into bewildered luck as he nearly gets leathered by his angry opponent mere seconds later” schtick, except it was 100x more violent and nasty than a Chan/Fat flick. I feel like quarantine Shabby is a severe critic though as The Raid and Paprika are both near perfect for me.

Likewise, the fights in The Night Comes For Us are very inventive - but the part Shabby doesn't want is the gore and harshness.

I know, I was just commenting on the tonal weirdness of it rather than recommending it. Headshot really confused me, and I still think about the police station fight a bunch. Like Tom and Jerry with real knives.

djchump

Tempy wrote:

I know, I was just commenting on the tonal weirdness of it rather than recommending it. Headshot really confused me, and I still think about the police station fight a bunch. Like Tom and Jerry with real knives.

Yeah, Headshot had some serious tonal whiplash - some parts all light and fluffy and some super harsh. Night Comes For Us is straight up horror-level nasty pretty much from the off, butcher fight especially.

There was a run of reasonably good action from Thailand after Ong Bak from the same director: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1272773/?ref_=tt_ov_dr
I remember thinking Chocolate and The Kick were quite nifty at the time:

tigersgogrrr

My friend worked with a bunch of people in The Kick, I think. I watched the girl training in Korea (IIRC)

She was sick AF.

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